Christmas tree assembly

ABSTRACT

A portable knockdown but self-standing tripodal base provides a stand for an accompanying composite upright having unique vertically spaced holders for readily applicable and removable fresh-cut evergreen boughs or limbs. Each holder embodies a pair of smooth dished disks properly paired and nested with requisite nicety one within the other to grippingly press and clamp the inner ends of the tree-building limbs. These limbs are selectively and carefully coordinated to provide an artificial bushy Christmas tree shaped as desired. The (1) stand and (2) sectional upright or trunk are structurally and functionally novel.

[ Oct. 1, 1974 United States Patent CHRISTMAS TREE ASSEMBLY [76]Inventor: Carl L. Depping, Rte. 6, l448 /2 School Ave., Walla Walla,Wash. 99362 [22] Filed: July 6, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 377,085

[52] US. Cl. 161/24, 161/13 [51] Int. Cl A47g 33/06 [58] Field of Search161/13, 22, 23, 24

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 904,758 11/1908 Cropp 161/24X 3,115,435 12/1963 Abramson... 161/24 3,131,112 4/1964 Abramson 161/243,159,523 12/1964 Abramson 161/24 Primary ExaminerWilliam R SchulzAttorney, Agent, or FirmClarence A. OBrien; Harvey B. Jacobson 5 7ABSTRACT A portable knockdown but self-standing tripodal base provides astand for an accompanying composite upright having unique verticallyspaced holders for readily applicable and removable fresh-cut evergreenboughs or limbs. Each holder embodies a pair of smooth dished disksproperly paired and nested with requisite nicety one within the other togrippingly press and clamp the inner ends of the tree-building limbs.These limbs are selectively and carefully coordinated to provide anartificial bushy Christmas tree shaped as desired. The (1) stand and (2)sectional upright or trunk are structurally and functionally novel.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Fig./

PATENTED 1 74 SHEU 2 0F 2 Fig.2

CHRISTMAS TREE ASSEMBLY This invention relates to certain new and usefulimprovements in an artificial Christmas tree which is such inconstruction and adaptability that the foliage thereof is made up ofcarefully selected hand-attached boughs or limbs, more particularly,properly sized and balanced limbs which have been cut from liveevergreen pine or equivalent holiday trees.

Persons conversant with the field of invention herein disclosed areaware that many and various types of artificial and imitation Christmastrees have been devised and are in widespread use. As a matter of fact,standsupported sectional uprights and trunks have been employed byothers in providing trees of varying heights and wherein the branches(limbs and boughs) are those which have been removed from live trees.

For background information attention is here directed to US. Pat. No.904,758 granted to H. R. Cropp which discloses a display stand for anartificial Christmas tree characterized by a portable knockdown base orstand supporting a complemental upright constructed from separablyjoined sections carrying coacting pairs of dished, but corrugated, limbsupporting and clamping disks. As further exemplary of the state of theart the reader may also take into account the simulated Christmas treedisclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,159,523 granted to A. Abramson, and showingoblique angled socket-type individual branch holders.

The present invention has to do with an adaptation wherein boughs ofcarefully selected and suitable relative length and appropriateness arecapable of being clampingly and selectively mounted on the trunk toprovide a tree which well serves the purposes for which it is intended.To the ends desired, and instead of relying on hand pressure to mountand secure the branches, smooth concave-convex or dished disks areutilized for reception and anchoring of the branch-ends to, in thismanner, clampingly crush the branch-ends between the smooth-finisheddisk surfaces and, in so doing, causing the clenched ends to beeffectually sealed off. Experience has shown that this sealing offaccomplishment virtually eliminates weeping. It follows that the loss ofmoisture is reduced to a minimum, thus adding to the durability andprolonged life of this unique tree.

In addition, the hereindisclosed stand-type base is strong and durableand embodies an attachable and detachable wrench which is readilyavailable and lends itself to use when erecting and uniting the readilyseparable and connectible components and the oriented screw-threadedstem or trunk.

Briefly, one aspect of the over-all concept has to do with a knock-downportable base which is fashioned into a novel stand. A tube or sleeve isvertically disposed and has its lower end aligned with a hole providedtherefor in a horizontal base plate. The base plate is preferablytriangulate in plan and the corner portions are provided with seats forstabilizing components of circumferentially spaced equidistant V-shapedleg frames. The individual inwardly diverging legs are provided withlaterally bent terminals which constitute hook-like retainers and whichare releasably engageable in socket members provided therefor on theouter surface of collars attached to upper and lower ends of thehub-like sleeve.

More particularly, the concept has to do with a stand which serves toaccommodate at least one screwthreaded shaft or stem. This shaft extendsthrough main and auxiliary sleeves which when assembled provide thedesired composite trunk. The trunk includes vertically spaced properlypaired holders for the attachable and detachable evergreen boughs orlimbs. For best results paired smooth-surfaced disks are dished andnested together and centrally apertured to accommodate thescrew-threaded shaft and the coacting main and auxiliary sleeves are soarranged and held by clamping nuts that the paired disks can be firmlyclamped together to assemble and retain the natural boughs or limbs incooperating tree-forming relationship. Thus the stand and trunk is ofknock-down construction and capable of being used over and over and theboughs or branches are carefully applied and arranged to convenientlyserve the needs of the user during the holiday season.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout.

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of an artificial Christmas treeconstructed in accordance with the principles of the present inventionand showing the same set up for use with an optional shaft shown as theupper portion of the trunk.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail section showing componentportions of the composite trunk, more particularly, parts of main andauxiliary sleeves, clamping and assembling nuts, and pairedconcavoconvex disks which are used in perfecting the desired limb orbough holders.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section taken approximately on the plane of thesection line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view wherein significant essentialcomponent parts are shown in readyto-assemble relationship.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing how with the use of anadapter or reducer coupling adjacent ends of main and auxiliary shaftsor shaft sections may be united where the height of the tree calls forthe use of two or more screw-threaded shafts.

Referring now to the views of the drawings, and particularly to theknockdown base or tree stand attention is directed to FIG. 4. Asignificant part of this stand comprises a horizontal substantiallytriangular base plate 6 having a central shaft or stem hole 8 and havingeach corner portion 10 provided with upstanding spaced paralleltriangular flanges or ears 12 which provide stabilizing and assemblingmembers for the leg frames. The over-all stand is referred to astripodal and preferably embodies three interchangeable leg frames. Eachleg frame is the same in construction, is denoted by the numeral 14, andis V-shaped in side elevation. The lower horizontal leg member 16 isadapted to reside flatwise and firmly atop the base plate 6 and has anupturned or laterally directed hook-like terminal 18. The upwardlysloping leg member 20 is likewise provided with a lateral-terminal 22and these hook-like terminals are releasably engageable in terminalanchoring keepers 24 provided therefor on the peripheral surface of acollar. There are two collars, one at the bottom as at 26 and one at thetop 28 of a main vertical hub-like sleeve 30. This sleeve constitutes acomponent part of the composite trunk and the lower open end in practicerests atop the plate and is lined up with the aforementioned hole 8.When the parts are put together the leg frames fit in place and areretained in associate relationship as brought out in the completeready-to-use stand or base as shown in FIG. 1. A further and significantcomponent of the trunk or upright comprises the aforementionedscrew-threaded vertically disposed stem or shaft 32 the lower portion ofwhich extends down through and beyond the sleeve 30 and in fact belowthe level of the plate 6 where it is provided with an assembling andretaining nut 34. As is more clearly evident in FIG. 2 a firstassembling and clamping nut is provided at 36 and bears against a washer38 which resides flatwise on the upper end portion 40 of the primarysleeve 30. Thus with these two nuts 34 and 36 the sleeve is connected toand rises perpendicularly from the horizontal plate 6. When it is inplace the leg frames 14 can be readily attached or removed as the casemay be.

With further reference to FIG. 2 in particular it will be seen that anysuitable number of auxiliary sleeves are provided to assist in making upthe over-all or composite upright or trunk. Each secondary or auxiliarysleeve is relatively short and as shown in FIG. 2 it is denoted by thenumeral 42. It has a bell-like or flaring lower end 44. The upperstraight across end is denoted at 46 and this end serves to accommodatea second assembling nut 48 which in practice (not shown) could beintegral with said upper end. When the nut 48 is tightened down itfunctions to assemble and properly retain the paired disks which go tomake up each holder. Each disk is of concavo-convex or dished form. Anupper disk is denoted at 50 and a companion lower disk at 52. Thesedisks are smoothly made and nested in companion relationship asillustrated in FIG. 2. The centrally apertured portions 54 of the diskssurround the screw-threaded shaft 32. When the disks are properly puttogether they serve to squeezably anchor and clampingly bind andmaintain the inner end portions 56 of the boughs 58 (natural limbs orbranches). To the ends desired and considering but a single holder itwill be evident that the disks 50 and 52 are nested together andsandwiched between the nut 36 and the flared nutheld end 44 of theauxiliary sleeve 42. Since all of the holders are the same inconstruction a description of one will suffice for all. Accordingly byconsidering the detailed description just given with reference to FIG. 2and further considering the exploded view in FIG. 4 and the finished orassembled view in FIG. 1 it is evident that the construction of theknockdown tripodal stand should be clear. In addition the compositetrunk is believed to be clear. In fact it will be evident that by theuse of the carefully selected and cut as well as fresh boughs or limbs58 an idea] artificial tree is attainable. With this invention and theuse of boughs forest areas can be systematically cleaned up. Theselector or collector merely selects fresh green boughs from oldergrowing trees and trims them off. In doing this he is clearing theforest floor for game feeding, light for grasses and plants, not tomention new growing trees for future years. He also achieves a reductionin insect breeding and many other advantageous results that contributeto the trimming of the lower branches of the older mature trees for theusable Christmas tree boughs. Then, too, the costs of boughs for a treeare much less than having to purchase a whole tree, as is evident.Further, with this ready-to-erect trunk and stand members of the familyare able to get together and erect a well-balanced and bushy tree on thespot. When the holiday season is over the readily detachable limbs andboughs can be removed. bundled up and conveniently disposed of in amanner to virtually eliminate fire hazards. The stand and trunk can bestored in erect form or taken down and the separate parts put away formore convenient and compact storage requirements as the case may be.Whenever necessary or desired to extend the height of the tree this canbe accomplished by employing a smaller and extended shaft such as theone shown at 60 in FIG. 1. To the ends desired an adapter 62 (FIG. 5)can be employed. The adapter comprises component parts 64 and 66 toaccommodate and provide sockets 68 for end portions 70 and 72 of thethen aligned shafts 32 and .60 respectively.

In actual practice it may be desirable as shown in FIG. 1 to provide asuitable and readily available double-ended wrench 74 which is held inplace on the sleeve 30 by an attaching and retaining clip 76. Thiswrench is made so that the ends can be selectively used to accommodatethe fittings and nuts shown in the views of the drawing. The use of thisspecial purpose wrench well serves the purposes for which it has beenadopted.

The construction and the arrangement of the parts is believed to besubstantially self-evident from the views of the drawing. Accordingly, amore extended description is deemed to be unnecessary.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An artificial Christmas tree comprising a portable self-standingstand, upright means having a lower end attached to and risingperpendicularly above the level of said stand and terminating in anupper end at a predetermined height, said upright simulating the trunkof a tree and embodying at least one pair of face to face assembling andclamping disks between which terminal inner ends of a plurality ofcompanion tree limbs are inserted and forcibly and clampingly held in amanner that the branches radiate beyond the trunk in treeformingrelationship, and manually regulatable mechanical clamping meansoperably and accessibly embodied in said upright means and functioningto releasably clamp said disks, said disks being concavo-convex,smooth-surfaced and having uninterruptedly smooth concave sides facingupwardly, and wherein said limbs are fresh evergreen boughs cut fromnatural pine trees.

2. The tree defined in and according to claim 1, and wherein saidupright means is of sectional knockdown form and said stand is likewiseof sectional knockdown construction, whereby when the set up tree hasserved its temporary display purposes, it can be dismantled and itscomponent parts compactly and conveniently stored for future erectionand use.

3. The tree defined in and according to claim 2, and wherein said standis tripodal and comprises a horizontal base plate which is centrallyapertured, a vertical primary plate-supported axial sleeve having alower end resting atop said plate in line with said aperture,circumferentially spaced V-shaped leg frames having horizontal legmembers residing flatwise and firmly atop said plate and upwardlyinwardly angled toward an upper end of said sleeve, keepers carried bythe respective upper and lower end portions of said sleeve, the innerdiverging ends of said leg members having lateral hook-like retainersreleasably fitted into their respectively cooperable keepers, the outerconverging ends of said leg members being joined by substantiallysemi-circular bent portions and said bent portions defining floorengaging feet.

4. The tree defined in and according to claim 3, and wherein said plateis substantially triangular in plan, the respective apical corners ofsaid plate having pairs of spaced parallel upstanding ears definingstirrup-like seats, and cooperating leg members of the respectivelyassociated horizontal leg members being retentively lodged in cooperableseats.

5. The tree defined in and according to claim 2, and wherein thesections of said upright means comprise a lower main sleeve and upperand intermediate auxiliary sleeves arranged in end-to-end alignment, asingle screw-threaded shaft passing downwardly through and stringing allof the sleeves together in coacting alignment, said clamping disks beingcentrally apertured v and interposed between adjacent ends of saidpredetermined sleeves, and assembling and retaining nuts operativelymounted on predetermined portions of said shaft in a manner to coactwith and retain said disks in set positions at will.

6. An artificial Christmas tree comprising, in combination, a portableself-standing tripodal stand embodying a leg and foot supportedhorizontal base plate having an axial shaft opening, a single verticallyelongated screw-threaded shaft having a lower end passing downwardlythrough said hole and held partly in place by an attached holddown nutclamped against an underneath side of said plate in alignment with saidshaft opening, a primary sleeve surrounding a cooperating lower portionof said shaft and having a lower end resting firmly atop said plate, afirst assembling and retaining nut screwed on said shaft and clampinglycooperable with an upper end of said sleeve, an auxiliary sleevesurrounding a portion of said shaft in a plane above said firstassembling nut, a pair of companion dished disks, said disks beingwholly smooth-surfaced and having centrally apertured portionsencircling said shaft between said first nut and a lower end of saidauxiliary sleeve and adapted to permit the inner ends of cut tree limbsto be inserted and clampingly held in a prearranged manner, and a secondassembling and clamping nut cooperable with auxiliary sleeve and alsoscrewed on said shaft and coordinated with a coacting upper end of saidauxiliary sleeve in a manner to squeezably bind said disks against theclampable inner ends of said limbs.

7. The tree defined in and according to claim 6 and wherein the upperand lower ends of said primary sleeve are encircled by fixedly mountedcollars, the outer peripheral surfaces of said collars havingequidistant circumferentially spaced keepers, said legs being V-shapedin said elevation and the free divergent ends of the individual legshaving laterally bent terminals providing hook-like retainers, and therespective retainers being aligned with and detachably engaged withtheir respectively cooperable keepers.

1. An artificial Christmas tree comprising a portable selfstandingstand, upright means having a lower end attached to and risingperpendicularly above the level of said stand and terminating in anupper end at a predetermined height, said upright simulating the trunkof a tree and embodying at least one pair of face to face assembling andclamping disks between which terminal inner ends of a plurality ofcompanion tree limbs are inserted and forcibly and clampingly held in amanner that the branches radiate beyond the trunk in tree-formingrelationship, and manually regulatable mechanical clamping meansoperably and accessibly embodied in said upright means and functioningto releasably clamp said disks, said disks being concavo-convex,smooth-surfaced and having uninterruptedly smooth concave sides facingupwardly, and wherein said limbs are fresh evergreen boughs cut fromnatural pine trees.
 2. The tree defined in and according to claim 1, andwherein said upright means is of sectional knockdown form and said standis likewise of sectional knockdown construction, whereby when the set uptree has served its temporary display purposes, it can be dismantled andits component parts compactly and conveniently stored for futureerection and use.
 3. The tree defined in and according to claim 2, andwherein said stand is tripodal and comprises a horizontal base platewhich is centrally apertured, a vertical primary plate-supported axialsleeve having a lower end resting atop said plate in line with saidaperture, circumferentially spaced V-shaped leg frames having horizontalleg members residing flatwise and firmly atop said plate and upwardlyinwardly angled toward an upper end of said sleeve, keepers carried bythe respective upper and lower end portions of said sleeve, the innerdiverging ends of said leg members having lateral hook-like retainersreleasably fitted into their respectively cooperable keepers, the outerconverging ends of said leg members being joined by substantiallysemi-circular bent portions and said bent portions defining floorengaging feet.
 4. The tree defined in and according to claim 3, andwherein said plate is substantially triangular in plan, the respectiveapical corners of said plate having pairs of spaced parallel upstandingears defining stirrup-like seats, and cooperating leg members of therespectively associated horizontal leg members being retentively lodgedin cooperable seats.
 5. The tree defined in and according to claim 2,and wherein the sections of said upright means comprise a lower mainsleeve and upper and intermediate auxiliary sleeves arranged inend-to-end alignment, a single screw-threaded shaft passing downwardlythrough and stringing all of the sleeves together in coacting alignment,said clamping disks being centrally apertured and interposed betweenadjacent ends of said predetermined sleeves, and assembling andretaining nuts operatively mounted on predetermined portions of saidshaft in a manner to coact with and retain said disks in set positionsat will.
 6. An artificial Christmas tree comprising, in combination, aportable self-standing tripodal stand embodying a leg and foot supportedhorizontal base plate having an axial shaft opening, a single verticallyelongated screw-threaded shaft having a lower end passing downwardlythrough said hole and held partly in place by an attached holddown nutclamped against an underneath side of said plate in alignment with saidshaft opening, a primary sleeve surrounding a cooperating lower portionof said shaft and having a lower end resting firmly atop said plate, afirst assembling and retaining nut screwed on said shaft and clampinglycooperable with an upper end of said sleeve, an auxiliary sleevesurrounding a portion of said shaft in a plane above said firstassembling nut, a pair of companion dished disks, said disks beingwholly smooth-surfaced and having centrally apertured portionsencircling said shaft between said first nut and a lower end of saidauxiliary sleeve and adapted to permit the inner ends of cut tree limbsto be inserted and clampingly held in a prearranged manner, and a secondassembling and clamping nut cooperable with auxiliary sleeve and alsoscrewed on said shaft and coordinated with a coacting upper end of saidauxiliary sleeve in a manner to squeezably bind said disks against theclampable inner ends of said limbs.
 7. The tree defined in and accordingto claim 6, and wherein the upper and lower ends of said primary sleeveare encircled by fixedly mounted collars, the outer peripheral surfacesof said collars having equidistant circumferentially spaced keepers,said legs being V-shaped in said elevation and the free divergent endsof the individual legs having laterally bent terminals providinghook-like retainers, and the respective retainers being aligned with anddetachably engaged with their respectively cooperable keepers.